Shoulder seal between a protective suit and helmet



Nov. 7, 1967 s. P. DURNEY 3,351,056

SHOULDER SEAL BETWEEN A PROTECTIVE SUIT AND HELMET Filed Feb. 19, 1965 2Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG. 1

GEORGE E OUR/V5) ATTORNEY INVENTOR G. P. DURNEY Nov. 7, 1967 SHOULDERSEAL BETWEEN A PROTECTIVE SUIT AND HELMET Filed Feb. 19, 1965 2Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR GEORGE I? OUR/V5) ATTORNEY United States Patent3,351,056 SHOULDER SEAL BETWEEN A PROTECTIVE SUIT AND HELMET George P.Durney, Dover, Del., assignor, by mesne assignments, to the UnitedStates of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy Filed Feb.19, 1965, Ser. No. 434,151 8 Claims. (Cl. 128-1425) ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLOSURE An oxygen-type seal between an aviators helmet and his flyingsuit, the closure being made by an expandable seal which is inflated bythe oxygen pressure within the helmet, the seal expanding between areinforced collar on the flying suit and the wearers shoulders. Theexpandable seal is located on the helmet in the area of the lower neckrather than up around the face.

"flight and a helmet with attached neck section. In order to provide theaviator with breathing oxygen, the helmet must be pressurized by thebreathing oxygen and this portion sealed off from the rest of the suit.In common use today are two general types of sealing methods. A firstmethod of sealing the breathing oxygen portion of the flight gearprovides a seal which fits about the wearers face and is pulled snug bymeans of straps or wires. A second common system employs a seal in theneck section attached to the helmet, said seal merely being arestriction about the neck of the wearer to separate the helmet portioninto which the breathing oxyigen'is piped from the rest of thesuit. Theobvious disadvantage of the two above-noted systems is that they ereuncomfortable to Wear and tend to foster a discontent with the entiresuit system.

In the system of the present invention the pressure seal between thehelmet portion and the suit portion of the flight gear is placed aroundthe wearer in the area where his neck joins his body rather than aroundhis neck proper or around his face. To accomplish this, the neck sectionwhich is attached to the helmet terminates at the lower end in a seal ofthe type which expands and seals by the use of the pressurized breathingoxygen in the helmet portion. This expanding seal coacts with a ring onthe upper edge of the chest portion of the flight suit. The result ofthis coaction is a seal which presses on the outside against the ring inthe flight suit and on the inner side expands to press against thewearers body, thus forming a tight seal between the helmet and theflight suit.

An object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved sealfor the helmet and neck portion of an aviators flight gear.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a sealing meansfor the helmet and neck portion of an aviators flight gear which is morecomfortable to the wearer and more efficient in operation.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a sealing meansfor the head and neck portions of a flight helmet which utilizes thepressure in the helmet to promote eflicient sealing.

Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention willbecome apparent from the following detailed description of the inventionwhen considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is an overall view of the physiological protection systemincorporating the invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the seal of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of an alternative embodiment of theseal; and

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a third embodiment of the seal ofthe invention.

The present invention is meant to be used with the standard aviatorsphysiological protective system, the upper portion of which is shown inFIG. 1. This protective system consists of a rigid shell helmet 10 whichhas a clear visor on the forward portion and into which breathing oxygenis supplied. The aviator also wears a protective coverall or flight suit11, which encompasses his body up to the neck and contains the standardsystem for protecting the body against the forces imposed by high speedand high altitude flight. Attached to the lower portion of the helmet isthe neck section of the protective uniform which is sealingly connectedto the helmet. This neck portion 12 terminates at the lower end with aseal which cooperates with reinforced collar 13 of flight suit 11 andthe shoulders of the wearer to seal off the helmet and neck section ofthe protective suit in order to hold the breathing oxygen therein. It iswith this sealing means that the present invention is concerned.

The position of the seal in relationship to the suit 11 and the wearersbody is shown more clearly in FIG. 2. It is seen that the suit 11terminates at the upper end in a reinforced collar 13 which completelyencircles the lower neck portion of the wearer. The flight helmet 10terminates at its lower end at a collar 14 to which is attached the necksection 12. This neck section 12 has the sealing means at its lower end.A preferred embodiment of the sealing means is shown in FIG. 2 andcomprises a sponge filled seal which has a plurality of holes 16 on theinner portion thereof communicating with the breathing oxygen portion ofthe helmet. Therefore, as the breathing oxygen pressure is communicatedthrough holes 16, it will cause the sponge-filled seal 15 to expand andpress against reinforced collar 13 of the flight suit and the wearersshoulders, thus providing a tight seal between the helmet portion andthe lower portion of the physiological protective system.

An alternative embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG, 3.In this embodiment a type of seal known as an inverted lip seal is usedinstead of the sponge filled seal of FIG. 2. In this inverted lip seal17 the-outer surface presses against and cooperates with reinforcedcollar 13 of the flight unit While the air pressure acting at 18 causesthe lower portion of the seal to be spread apart and press against thewearers shoulders thereby tightly but comfortably sealing the wearersbody and the flight suit.

-In FIG. 4 another embodiment of the present invention is illustrated.In this concept the inverted lip seal of FIG. 3 is used but a spongerubber pad 19 is added. A sponge rubber pad 19 is placed on the outerside of inverter lip seal 17 and it is this pad which will contactreinforced collar 13. The inverted lip seal 17 functions as statedabove, i.e., the air pressure from the helmet section acting at 18forces the two parts of the seal apart, the inner portion thencontacting the wearers shoulders and the outer portion forcing spongepad 19 against the reinforced collar 13 to complete the seal.

It is therefore seen that by use of the present invention a much morecomfortable and more efiicient seal is provided for the, aviatorsphysiological protective system. The seal fits about the body at a pointwhich lends itself well to cooperating with the seal and at which theslight constrictive action of the: seal. will not be uncomfortable tothe wearer. Furthermore, sealing is accomplished not by the lacing orotherwise fastening of a constrictive means, but by the actionv of thebreathing oxygen pressure. in the helmet. This provides a constantcomfortable sealing pressure which is placed on the seal at all timeswithout worry by the wearer. As for the operation of the present device,it is obvious and simple. The seal connected. to the neck portion of thehelmet is donned with the helmet and the rigid collar 13 of the flightsuit is placed thereover. The only operation necessary to accomplish thesealing is the pressurizing of the helmet and neck portion. by thesupply of breathing oxygen. The seal will remain effective as long aspressure is placed on the sealing area by action of rigid collar 13 andthe pressurized gas is present in the seal itself.

Obviously many modifications and variations of the present invention arepossible in the light of the above teachings. It is therefore to beunderstood that within the scope of the. appended claims the inventionmay be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.

What is claimed is:

1. In a physiological protective system the combination of a protectivecoverall which covers the torso of the wearers body and which terminatesat the wearers neck in a reinforced collar;

a helmet having a neck ring, means for supplying breathing oxygen intothe helmet;

a neck section attached to said neck ring, said neck section terminatingin a shoulder seal means, said shoulder seal means fitting inside saidreinforced collar and arranged to expand outwardly against thereinforced collar, said shoulder seal being adapted to rest on thewearers shoulders;

whereby the coaction of said shoulder seal means, said reinforcedcollar, and the wearers shoulders provides gas sealing means for saidhelmet and said neck section.

2. The combination of structure of claim 1 and further wherein saidshoulder seal means comprises a sponge-filled expansion element, saidelement having openings which are in communication with said necksection;

whereby the pressure created in the helmet by the supply of breathingoxygen thereto will be communicated to the inside of said expansionelement, causing expansion against said-reinforced collar and thewearers shoulders to form a seal.

3. The combination of structure of claim 1 and wherein said shoulderseal means comprises an inverted lip type expansion seal having anopening toward and in communication with said neck section;

whereby the pressure created in said helmet by the breathing oxygensupplied thereto is communicated to said inverted lip seal causing saidinverted lip seal to expand outwardly against said reinforced 'collarand inwardly against the wearers shoulders.

4. The combination of structure of claim l and wherein said shoulderseal comprises a sponge pad outwardly of and attached to said lip sealwhereby upon expansion outward of said lip seal said sponge pad engagesand cooperates with said reinforced collar.

5. In combination with an aviators physiological protection systemincluding a protective coverall, a helmet, means for supplying breathingoxygen to the helmet and a neck section attached to said helmet, asealing. means for containing the oxygen in said helmet and said necksection comprising a reinforced collar attached to the upper portion ofsaid protective coverall;

an expansion seal attached to the lower portion of said neck section andcoacting with the inner surface of said reinforced collar and adapted torest on the wearers shoulders, said expansionv seal having open: ingstherein in communication with said neck stion;

whereby the pressure of the breathing oxygen sup:

plied to said helmet and said neck portion will be communicated to saidexpansion seal, causing said seal to expand outwardly against saidreinforced collar and inwardly against the wearers shoulders.

6. The combination of structure of claim 5 and further wherein saidexpansion seal comprises a sponge-filled tube having said openings,

whereby the pressure of the breathing oxygen from within said necksection causes said sponge-filled tube to expand outwardly against saidreinforced collar and inwardly against the wearers shoulders to form aseal.

7. The combination of structure of claim 1 and Whrein said shoulder sealfurther comprises an inverted lip type expansion seal having an openingtoward and in communication with said neck section; whereby the pressurecreated in said helmet and said neck section by the breathing oxygensupplied thereto is communicated to said inverted lip seal, causing saidseal to expand outwardly against said reinforced collar and inwardlyagainst the wearers shoulders, 8. The combination of stiucture of claim7 and wherein .said lip seal further comprises a sponge pad outwardly ofand attached to said lip seal;

whereby upon expansion outward of said lip seal said sponge pad engagesand cooperates with said reinforced collar.

Refercnces Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,888,011 5/1959 Penrod et al.128- 1-42.7

FOREIGN PATENTS 209,470 7/ 1940 Switzerland.

RICHARD A. GAUDET, Primary Examiner.

W. E. KAMM, Assistant Examiner.

1. IN A PHYSIOLOGICAL PROTECTIVE SYSTEM THE COMBINATION OF A PROTECTIVECOVERALL WHICH COVERS THE TORSO OF THE WEARER''S BODY AND WHICHTERMINATES AT THE WEARER''S NECK IN A REINFORCED COLLAR; A HELMET HAVINGA NECK RING, MEANS FOR SUPPLYING BREATHING OXYGEN INTO THE HELMET; ANECK SECTION ATTACHED TO SAID NECK RING, SAID NECK SECTION TERMINATINGIN A SHOULDER SEAL MEANS, SAID SHOULDER SEAL MEANS FITTING INSIDE SAIDREINFORCED COLLAR AND ARRANGED TO EXPAND OUTWARDLY AGAINST THEREINFORCED COLLAR, SAID SHOULDER SEAL BEING ADAPTAED TO REST ON THEWEARER''S SHOULDERS; WHEREBY THE COACTION OF SAID SHOULDER SEAL MEANS,SAID REINFORCED COLLAR, AND THE WEARER''S SHOULDERS PROVIDES GAS SEALINGMEANS FOR SAID HELMET AND SAID NECK SECTION.